Rotary snow-clearer for railway-tracks



A UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. CLOSE, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

vROTARY SNOW-CLEARER FOR RAILWAY-TRACKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,917, dated March30, 1880,

Application led November 2S, 1879.

To all lwhom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN W. CLOSE, ofBuffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Snow-Clearers forRailway-Tracks and other Roadways; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, Whichform a part of thisspecification.

Figure l is a vertical central longitudinal section of my improvedsnow-clearer on line y y of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partlyin section, on line a; x of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of thesnow chamber or receptacle. the hollow arms or buckets and its hollowrshaft.

The same letter indicates the same part wherever it occurs in thedrawings.

The nature of my invention consists in the removal of snow from a trackor roadway by means of an apparatus which, as'it gathers the snow, meltsit by the application of steam or other heat, and throws it in a whollyor partially melted condition to the side of the roadway or track.

It consists more specifically in providing a track-clearer with asnow-receptacle having hollow Walls for the reception and conveyance ofsteam and its injection among the snow, and with rapidly -rotatinghollow perforated arms or buckets, which also receive steam and diffuseit through the snow, and by the velocity of their rotation throw thewholly or partially melted snow out of the snow-chamber.

. In the accompanyin gdrawin gs, which clearly represent the invention,A marks the baseplate, which may be provided with wheels or runners, aspreferred, to adapt it to propulsion on a railway-track or common road.For railway use it is placed in front of the locomotive i and ispropelled by it as snow-plows usually are. The boilerjiof thellocomotivesupplies Fig. 4 is a front-edge view of one of' open in front andprovided with a broad scoop or shovel, L, which lifts the snow froml thetrack and guides -it into the cylinder B.

Any suitable braces C hold the cylinder in place. The walls of thecylinder are made hol'- low, having on all sides the steam-space D,which is connected with the source of steamsupply by the steam-pipe E.This pipe is journaled at I J, and serves as the shaft of the hollowarms or buckets F, which are attached to its forward end. There is afree passage for steam; from pipe E into the arms F, and these areperforated with numerous holes l1., which allow steam to escape into thecylinder B. The cylinder-walls also have numerous` perforations for thesame purpose.

The hollow shaft E receives rotation from any suitable mechanismoperated by the locomotive, and here represented by the crank Gr.

H marks an additional induction steam-pipe to supply steam from anadditional locomotive, should it prove desirable. As during asnow-blockade the locomotives are not in use in tran sporting trains,any reasonable number of them would be available for the purposes ofthis invention, and steam could be led from them to the cylinder Bthrough flexible hose.

In the upper side of receptacle B is an opening, M, through whichthewholly or partially melted snow is thrown by the buckets or arms F.These arms have a slight twist to facilitate their penetration of asnow-bank. p

To prevent the too rapid condensation of the steam in the steam-space D,I line its walls with wood or other non-conductor, l. If burningpetroleum is to be used, the lining should be of baked clay or othernon-combustible material. A

Should the heat from the injected steam not prove sufficient to melt thesnow with the required rapidity, I contemplate the use of an oil-fireapplied from the tank M' below the cylinder B to heat that cylinder. Ialso contemplate the injection of burningpetroleum among the snow tosupplement the action of the steam when required.

The operation of the machine is obvious from its construction. track bythe locomotive it collects snow in the cylinder B, rapidly melts it, andthrows it, in a fluid or semi-fluid condition, to the side of As it ispushed along the IOO the track by the rapid revolution of the armsl orbuckets F. `Any desired number of these arms may be attached to theshaft E.

When the invention is applied to common roadways, special means ofpropulsion and special sources of steam-supply must be provided 5 butthey form no part of my present invention. y

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new,and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A snow-clearer having perforated hollow Walls, connected with asource of steam-supply, and perforated hollow revolving arms, which arecaused to rotate in the snow-chamber lto assist in melting the snow andto throw it out' of the machine to one side of the road or track, allsubstantially as specified.

2. In a snow-clearer, the combination of a Stationary chamber orsnow-receptacle provided with hollow walls heated by steam, and

perforated so as rto inject steam 4through the snow, with hollowperforated arms, also heated by steam, and injecting steam through thesnow and revolving to throw it out` ofthe same, all substantially asspeciiied.

3. In a snow-clearing machine, hollow perforated steam-arms, suppliedwith steam from any suitable boiler by means of ahollow shaft and causedto rotate by suitable mechanism, in combination with a snow-chamber inwhich the snow is Wholly or partially melted and from which it is thrownout by the centrifugal action of the revolving` arms, all as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own invention I affix mysignature in presence of two Witnesses.

J. W. CLOSE.

Witnesses:

GEO. F. GRAHAM, GHAs. F. STANSBURY.

